DEFENSE COMMUNITIES 360

Eliminating DOD’s on-base schools would save $1 billion per year, according to Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn (R), but the Senate failed to take up his proposal last week during debate over the fiscal 2012 defense authorization bill, reported Fox News.

Coburn’s plan would shut down the department’s system of elementary and secondary schools, which includes 64 schools in the United States, saving an average of $51,000 annually per student. In turn, DOD would reimburse the local school districts that took on the students $12,000 per year.

DOD’s estimate of per-student spending is much lower than Coburn’s, however; the department says it spends between $14,712 and $16,260 each year, according to the story.